Preußen ist nicht vergessen
by TheLadyInGold
Summary: "Prussia isn't forgotten" A simple teamwork exercise at a world meeting shows Prussia this.
1. The Compliment Box

"... and then you tear the piece of paper off like so, and put it in the slot on top of the box."

Prussia sat back in his seat, bored out of his mind._ I get invited to a world meeting for once, and we do something unawesome like this,_ he thought._ Wunderbar._

"Any questions?"America asked cheerfully. He was the one hosting the world meeting this time, and most likely the one who had come up with this exercise. The activity was simple: each nation had a box with their name on it at their seat in the conference room. The nations were to write something complimentary about each other on paper and put the notes in the boxes... easy enough. But of course, it wasn't...

"What if we can't think of anything nice to say about someone?" Hungary asked, glaring at Romania... who smirked at her in return.

"Umm... then don't say anything at all, okay?" America told her. "The whole purpose of this is to build each other up, not tear each other down."

England muttered to himself, "I guess I won't be writing anything about the frog, then... bloody git..." Greece and Turkey were eyeing each other distastefully, and Romano was openly glaring at Germany. Austria and Switzerland were very pointedly ignoring each other... Japan and Korea too.

_Well, this should be interesting,_ Prussia thought. _I wonder what the others will say about me..._

He had visions of an empty box, since in his mind no one really liked him or cared about him anymore. He almost never went to the world meetings now unless they were held in Germany (because one could say he was still technically a part of that country) or if the host nation invited him, which rarely happened. Maybe they were all beginning to forget him. Why America had invited him was beyond his comprehension...

To be honest, Prussia hadn't been feeling quite himself. If he wasn't so awesome, he might say he was feeling depressed... not to mention a little left out. Sure, Germany tried to include him in as much as possible regarding the country, but sometimes he was just too busy to even notice his older brother. So he spent most of his days alone in his basement, reading, watching television, writing in his diary or playing computer games. All in all, it wasn't much of an existence for the former Königreich Preußen.

Exhaling a heavy sigh, Prussia glanced around the room at the other nations. Some were scribbling furiously. Some appeared to be deep in thought, and yet others looked bored and annoyed with this exercise. Prussia began to write, finding something good to say about almost everybody... although he almost didn't write anything about Russia (he finally compromised and wrote "he loves his family").

Tearing the paper in strips, he walked around and stuffed his notes into the other nation's boxes. While he did so, he kept glancing back at his place to see if anyone was putting anything in his... every time he looked, the area was vacant. _Oh well..._

Prussia walked back to his seat when he was finished, as America had instructed them to do. While the other nations filtered back to their places, he picked up his box and tried to peer through the slot to see if it had anything in it.

"No, guys, don't open them yet," America called. Everyone looked at him in surprise.

"Why not?" Denmark whined. "I wanna see what everyone wrote to me."

"Because I want you to take the time to really read them," America replied. "Take them back to your hotel room and give them a good going over."

All the nations grumbled but set their boxes down... the suspense was killing Prussia. He picked the box up and shook it, listening for the rustle of papers inside._ Who wrote about me?_ he thought. _Gott... I can't stand it..._

"Bruder?" Prussia jumped and spun around at the sound of the voice behind him. Germany was standing behind him, frowning. "You all right?"

"Ja, _Westen_," Prussia replied in an overly cheerful tone. "I'm awesome, as always."

Germany nodded and continued, "Feliciano, Kiku and I are going to go get something to eat. Do you want to come too?"

"Nein, danke," Prussia answered, shaking his head. "I think I'll just go back to our hotel room. I'm tired."

"You should eat something, Bruder," Germany replied, looking concerned. "You might have more energy if you did."

Prussia waved his hand. "I'll be all right, West," he said. "I'll order something from room service if I get really hungry." Germany still didn't look convinced, but he finally relented. "All right, then..." Prussia started to walk away, but then Germany said suddenly, "Gilbert?"

"Ja?" Prussia stopped and looked at his younger brother.

"Please call me if you need anything," Germany told him. "I won't be gone long... but if you do, call me... bitte..."

"Ja, _Westen_," Prussia replied, managing a small smile. "I will." And with that, he hurried back to his hotel room to open his box.

The elevator felt like it was moving in slow motion as it carried him up to the ninth floor. Dashing down the hallway, he dug in his coat pocket for the room key. "I have to know if... anyone still cares," he muttered as he unlocked the door and entered the room. He tossed his coat on a chair and flopped down on his bed, heart pounding furiously. His fingers trembled as he lifted the lid...

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I will be posting the part two either this evening or tomorrow. And for all of those who are on author alert, I am sorry I've been inactive. I've just been way too busy with work to do anything else.

I promise I will update my other fics soon- probably to finish my Russia/fem!China first, then "Bros", then "Iggy Python". I will most likely discontinue "A Canada Story" because I just don't really love it anymore... (sowwy...) I also have a one-shot requested by an anonymous reviewer that is loosely related to "Iggy Python". I couldn't fit it into that story so it will stand on its own.


	2. Mein Held

Prussia's eyes widened as he dumped the contents of the box on his bed. There were actually quite a lot of folded papers in a pile in front of him... for a moment, he had the fleeing thought that someone had stuffed the box with blank papers as some sort of cruel joke,but when he picked one up he caught a glimpse of writing on it.

"Well, let's see what everyone thinks," he said softly to Gilbird as his feathered friend lazily fluttered from the pillow to nest in Prussia's hair.

"Piyo! Piyo!" Gilbird chirped cheerfully, preening a few strands to make his resting place as comfortable as possible.

The first few he opened were from some of the African nations. "Well, that's...a surprise," he remarked, seeing that he didn't really know many of them... Cameroon described him as "energetic", Kenya wrote the he was "a really funny guy" and Uganda said he was "full of life". He smiled at these...and then blinked when he read a note from Sudan.

_**He's very kind. Also a good listener.**_

Prussia furrowed his brow... then remembered an incident at a world meeting during a time when conditions in Darfur were exceptionally bad. He'd stumbled onto Sudan crying in the hallway, and, hating to see anyone cry, asked her what was wrong. She had immediately begun pouring out all her troubles to him... _Gott, I had no idea what to say to her_, he thought. _I felt so helpless..._ _what terrible things were happening._ All he could do was sit with her, put an arm around her, and listen...

"I guess that was good enough," Prussia said quietly. He was glad that she found his listening helpful. With that, he went on to the next note. It was from Turkey, and was uncharacteristically gushing praise for his character. He had to chuckle at that... "The old man's desperate for an EU membership, isn't he?" Gilbird chirped his assent.

Prussia unfolded the next note. It was from China.

_**Gilbert is not afraid to make sacrifices and put others' needs before his own.**_

He smiled a little more. Coming from China, who had done just those things to raise his younger siblings, that meant a lot. The next three notes were from Spain, France, and Belgium. They were not too unexpected, seeing that France and Spain were his friends... and Belgium was so sweet that she probably wrote something for everyone.

The next one after that was in a girl's handwriting...Prussia squinted at it for a minute as he didn't recognize it.

_**My cat got stuck in a very tall tree and Gilbert climbed up and got her even though it was very high. He could have fallen and gotten hurt, but I was crying about my cat and he didn't want me to cry.**_

He blinked... one time, during the Cold War, on one of the very few occasions that he had been allowed outside while living at Russia's house, he had encountered Belarus at the foot of a tall tree, sobbing heartbrokenly. Her cat had climbed to near the top of the tree and wouldn't come down for anything. He'd felt sorry for her... he knew he'd be upset if Gilbird was trapped somewhere.

"So she remembers that," Prussia said quietly. "I had almost forgotten." He opened the next note and spread it out in front of him. This handwriting also appeared to be female.

I_** got to be good friends with Gilbert during the time when he came to live with us. I never got to say goodbye to him when he went home... I really missed him. He's a great friend.**_

Ukraine, no doubt. _I'll have to get in touch with her again,_ he thought. _She was a good friend to me too. In fact, it was her and Lithuania that made life somewhat bearable at times during those long, terrible years._

The next note simply read:

**_He always notices me._**

"Of course, Matt," Prussia said, chuckling again. "You're one of my best friends."

The next note:

_**I always admired Gilbert because he seems to be so cool under pressure. Nothing ever worries him, no matter how bad it is. Wish I could be like that...**_

"Ja, mein Freund, you do worry too much," Prussia said, laughing a little as he read Lithuania's note. "Of course, you do have to babysit your buddy Poland... that could drive anyone mad..."

Speaking of Poland, the next note was from him.

_**I haven't like, always gotten along with him, but he's totally brave! And tough! And I, like, have a lot of respect for him!**_

Shaking his head and grinning, Prussia unfolded the next one :

_**I love fratello Gilbert sooo much! He's sooo nice and always so happy! Plus he likes my pasta! And he takes good care of his fratello too!**_

"Ah, Feli..." Prussia was grinning from ear to ear after reading that. He was surprised at the next note, from Romano.

_**He may be a potato head, but... he's actually a pretty okay guy.**_

Wonders never cease, he thought. He went on to the next note:

_**He can be difficult to get along with, but he'll always have your back if you get into trouble.**_

Hungary... Prussia arched his eyebrows in great surprise as he read the next one, written in very elegant handwriting:

_**Gilbert and I have had our differences over the years**_ ("that's putting it mildly," he thought as he read) _**but, putting those aside, I consider him a good friend... and one would be hard pressed to find someone more courageous and principled than he is.**_

"Really now, Specs?" Prussia said, with a laugh. He put the paper aside and picked up another, this one written in a strong, square hand.

_**I do not like Gilbert's attitude, but I admire his strength.**_

Russia... "Who would have thought?" Prussia mused.

The next, from little Sealand:

_**Gilbert never acts like I'm annoying! And he always talks to me!**_

Liechtenstein wrote:

_**Gilbert took good care of me when I was very small.**_ (Next to this she drew a little smiley face) _**And he's always nice to me.**_

Prussia remembered the short time he had cared for the little girl so many years ago... "She was so cute..." he mused. He really had wished that he could have kept her and raised her as his own, but the life he was living at the time was no life for a very young child. Still, her gratitude was touching.

Japan had this to say:

_**Prussia-san always makes me smile.**_

"Well, danke," Prussia chuckled as he put the paper aside. He kept reading, note after note, feeling more and more encouraged... they hadn't forgotten after all... until, finally, there were only two notes left. He picked one up and unfolded it.

_**Gilbert, dude... where have you been lately? We all miss you! You're a really smart guy and have good ideas! That's why I invited you. You should come around more often! Yeah, you were brutal during the revolution, but still, you helped make me who I am today! Thanks dude!**_

So that was why America had invited him... suddenly a thought struck Prussia. Germany hadn't written anything... he was afraid to know exactly what Germany thought. He tried hard not to be a burden to his little brother... but still... He realized he had one more note left, and that this paper was bigger than all the others, so it had been folded several times to fit through the slot. He carefully unfolded it, his eyes watering a little as he read the familiar handwriting.

_**Where do I start when describing Gilbert? I could talk about all the times he went without things so I could have everything I needed. I could say that he's always been ready to listen when I've had a problem, and willing to help when I've needed it. I could mention the times he's put himself in danger to ensure my safety... I could recount all the valuable lessons I've learned from him about hard work and determination and honor and selflessness... he and I have our disagreements, and ja, he's not perfect, but who is? I don't think I tell him enough how much he means to me and how grateful I am to him... and how glad I am to still have him as part of my life. Danke, Gilbert. Mein großer Bruder, meine beste Freundin, mein Held.**_

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Awwww... I love fluffy family/bro stuff!

The "Prussia-san" from Japan is intentional... he strikes me as the type that would be very formal and calling others by their country name instead of their personal name.

I included some nations that either aren't in the manga or the anime, and also a few that have made brief appearances (Cameroon, Kenya, Uganda... the last two appeared in the Gakuen stuff and Cameroon was in the costume party event. Sudan hasn't appeared at all yet.)

My headcanon for Germany and Prussia is that Luddi relies more on Gilbert than he lets on, and that many times he'll use Gil as a sounding board when he's got a problem that needs a solution.

The last line of Germany's note says "My big brother, my best friend, my hero".

I have one more part to this that I will put up soon.


	3. Feeling Awesome Again

Germany was worried. Very worried.

He was so worried that he was having a hard time concentrating on his dinner, or on the conversation his two friends were having..._ I hope everyone was kind to Bruder,_ he thought to himself.

Prussia had been so depressed as of late. Many times at night, he could hear his elder brother pacing the floors of his basement room, unable to sleep, or talking to Gilbird about how lonely he was. Not only that, but he wasn't eating much and had lost a fair bit of weight. Germany's heart ached witnessing these things, but Prussia would never talk about them, only insisting with a very forced smile that he was "awesome" just like always.

Germany wished that he could just fix everything for Prussia, but... he didn't quite know how. He had tried to express his appreciation as best he could in his note, but still, one never knew what the others would say, or whether or not they would follow the rules...

"... that right?" Germany jumped and looked at Japan, who was peering at him curiously. Both he and Italy were looking at Germany with puzzled expressions.

"Is there something bothering you, Ludwig?" Italy asked. Germany stood up from the table.

"I'm going to go back to the hotel now," he replied, standing up and dropping some money on the table for his portion of the meal. His friends both seemed confused as he quickly exited the restaurant, but he was too impatient to explain. He needed to get back to his bruder. "Even if no one else cares about him, I still do," he muttered to himself as he stood on the sidewalk, waiting for a cab.

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The elevator was moving slowly. Very slowly.

_Maybe I should have taken the stairs,_ Germany thought as he stood tapping his foot impatiently, watching the lights for the floors illuminate one by one._ It would have been faster..._ when the elevator finally "dinged" to signal his floor, he exhaled and slipped through the doors before they were even fully open.

He made it down the hall in record time, passing two doors in each stride as he loped toward the end of the hall. When he finally arrived at the door marked 923, he noticed there was no light coming from under the door._ I don't know if that's a good sign or a bad one..._

Anxiously,he fumbled for the key in his pocket... and then noticed a room service trolley sitting next to the door. He lifted the lid to reveal an empty plate. "Well, at least he ate something," Germany said quietly as he fumbled with the lock.

When he opened the door to the room, he was greeted by a very welcome sight. Prussia was in his bed, sleeping peacefully with Gilbird nestled in his hair and a small smile on his face. Clutched in one hand was a piece of paper- Germany's note. The other notes were in a pile on his bedside table. Germany sighed with relief... and then noticed that Prussia's diary had fallen on the floor. It was open to an entry he had just written...

_**Dear Diary,**_

_**Today was the awesomest day I've had in a long time... they really haven't forgotten me. How awesome is that?**_

_** I got a lot of really nice notes from all kinds of people... Onkel Yao, Specs, Lizzy, Alfred, Matt... even Russia wrote me a nice note! Ja, who saw that one coming? **_

_**But anyway, the best one of all had to be from West... I'm humbled... Gott, diary, don't act so shocked... but I'm humbled by the fact that mein bruder thinks so highly of me. And I'm just glad that he's done well for himself in life. In fact, I think that of the many awesome things I've done in my time, raising him has been my greatest and most awesome accomplishment.**_

_**You know, diary, today really opened my eyes and made me think. I've been through a lot of hard times, ja, but, given the chance to do it again, I would... because I know people care. And that makes it all worthwhile... don't tell anyone, all right, diary? I do have a reputation to uphold.**_

_**I'm back to feeling awesome again.**_

_**Gilbert**_

Germany chuckled quietly at this. "Sehr gut, bruder," he said softly as he picked up the diary, closed it, and placed it on Prussia's bedside table. "I'm glad you're feeling awesome again..." He continued talking as he climbed into his own bed, glancing across the room at his very relaxed brother, "...but, to tell you the truth, you'll always be awesome to me. No matter what."

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Aaaand... fin!

"Onkel" Yao... for some reason, my headcanon is that Prussia really, really admires China. After all, he is the country that brought the world "The Art of War". Also, China would have been a friend and contemporary of Prussia's Vati Germania... so yeah.

Oh, and the use of Russia instead of Ivan was intentional too... Prussia really, really dislikes Russia. So I think he'd forgo his personal name and use his country name instead.

Luddi really wuvs his bruder... awww... (as I always say, I am an absolute sucker for fluff. Especially family fluff.) And as one that has suffered from depression at times in my life, let me say that one never knows how much good it does to know that others do care about you- so never forget to tell your friends and loved ones that you do.

I hope you enjoyed this... when you get past the outward shell of "awesome" and brash attitude, Prussia really is a pretty cool guy... so please review and show him a little love!


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